Bhopal: The district administration has allowed former cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and six other members of erstwhile royal family of Bhopal to submit replies by January 29 to notices issued to them about alleged irregularities in records of land worth crore of rupees.

Following a submission by Pataudi's lawyers yesterday, the date for tendering replies was extended till January 29 by the District Magistrate Court, sources said.

The district administration had earlier asked them to reply to notices about irregularities in records related to ownership of 1116.09 acres registered by the Nawab's family members in their name during 1949-50 and 1955-56.

The notices were issued to descendants of Bhopal's Nawab Hamidullah Khan, Sahiba Sultan and Salewha Sultan and Nadir Rashid, Shahbano and Nilofar on December 7.

Following directives of the Madhya Pradesh High Court in August 2004, the district authorities had conducted probe into the ownership of land spread across villages Behta, Borwan, Laukhedi, Halalpur and Nishatpura, the sources said.

The probe suggested that the land should have been registered as government land and not as private as per the state-merger agreement, they said.

Source : PTI